I know it's a bit after the fact, but I just wanted to drop a line and let it be said in a truly public forum that Sean Astin is an absolute sweetheart. I am an admittedly rabid Sam fan, and I've had a nasty eye infection lately, so in a gesture of great kindness, some of my fan-friends conspired to take a piece of my fan artwork to Bretano's to get it signed for me as a get-well gift, and one lass, Rebecca, finally proved to be the last link in the chain that got it done. This is taken from her report of the event:

***

By the time I got in the store it was standing room only. I saw Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens sitting in front, but Sean Astin was off to the side talking to someone.

The staff had said no autographs before the talk and I would have followed the rules for myself, but I really wanted to get an autograph for VB and we had been told that we could only get one item signed and that it had to be signed by all four guests.

Sean was signing a DVD of Rudy for a fan and sounding overwhelmed and honored.

Me: "Sean-"

Sean turned and smiled at me. He has the nicest smile. I don't care what people say about his weight. He looked really good.

I held out a copy of my friend's drawing, "My friend was in the hospital-"

Sean got this utterly compassionate look on his face. "I'm sorry."

"She drew this and it would mean a lot to her if you would sign it," I told him.

He stared at it for a minute. "She wants me to sign this? This is gorgeous. (signs it) Tell her that I love it and I hope that she gets better soon."

I wish that I had a picture of his expression. He is a good actor, but I now know that he is also sincerely a good man.

I handed him the BitofEarth banner. "I don't know if you go on-line, but this is also a site she helped start." Sean looked touched and kept repeating, "Bit of Earth. Bit of Earth." At which point a staff member said that he needed to go up to the front.

***

I really can't express how much this touched me. I've been a fan of his for a while, and greatly admire the work he did bringing Sam's balance of simplicity and depth to the screen, but I also admire him now for being such a gentleman in person. Ego seems to run rampant in Hollywood these days, and the LOTR cast is an oasis of genuine humanity in the midst of this.

He didn't have to sign the autograph at all. He could have told Rebecca to get back in line, that it wasn't sign-things time yet. He could have told her that it was one to a person. He could have signed it quickly and gotten back to the tables. He could have signed anywhere on the pic. He could have done all those things well within his rights, and without being a Bad Person for it.

But he didn't. He took the time, he listened kindly to Rebecca, really looked at the pic, and now that I have gotten the pic in the mail and see the signature....he really seems to have taken care. I actually had to LOOK for it on my own art! It's large enough to be clearly legible - and it really looks like his name, not just a pen-wiggle, which I appriciate after seeing so many celebrity 'signatures' that look like the pen randomly threw up on the paper - but not so big as to be obtrusive, and he angled it with the composition of the picture and put it in such a place that it neither sticks out in a big patch of white nor obscures any of the design.

I really wish I could scan it here, but it's already framed.

So if you see this, Sean, thank you. You probably understand this well from playing a hobbit, but it's still true: little things can mean a great deal to people.